Taken from a group home at age twelve, Evan Smoak was raised and trained as an off-the-books government assassin: Orphan X. After he broke with the Orphan Program, Evan disappeared and reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man, a man spoken about only in whispers and dedicated to helping the truly desperate.

But this time, the voice on the other end is Jack Johns, the man who raised and trained him, the only father Evan has ever known. Secret government forces are busy trying to scrub the remaining assets and traces of the Orphan Program and they have finally tracked down Jack. With little time remaining, Jack gives Evan his last assignment: find and protect his last protégé and recruit for the program.

But Evan isn’t the only one after this last Orphan—the new head of the Orphan Program, Van Sciver, is mustering all the assets at his disposal to take out both Evan (Orphan X) and the target he is trying to protect.

Hellbent by Gregg Hurwitz (Orphan X, #3)

Evan Smoak, once part of a deep government “assets” program has broken free, gone rogue and flamed that last spark of humanity into a quest to help those who need him most. He is also a man on the run from the very agency he once served and the big X on his back is neon orange. Every Orphan ever trained is out to take him down and end the legend of Orphan X, including an old rival, the new head of the Orphan program, the only orphan to match his skills.

When a voice from his past, one he thought long dead calls to give him one last assignment, it is his humanity that will do all he can to free his mentor’s last student from the clutches of the program. To do so will mean facing down his greatest and most dangerous foe, Van Sciver, a soulless monster who will stop at nothing to end Evan’s life.

HELLBENT by Gregg Hurwitz takes us back into a world where no one can be trusted, emotions could be both a sign of weakness and strength and one man will finally understand that no man can truly survive without a cause worth fighting for.

Overflowing with action, the battle of good versus evil rages at full tilt as Evan Smoak embraces both his trained talents and his emotional awakening in order to save one young recruit from the life he has led. A powerhouse read that focuses as much on the strength of its characters as it does over-the-top action and suspense.

I didn’t think Gregg Hurwitz could make Evan Smoak’s story any more intense, but he has raised the bar even higher with HELLBENT! If only that phone number really existed! Holding out for a hero? Wait no more!